Sunday August 7 vs the Brewers

Opponent: Milwaukee Brewers
Outcome: L
Score: 2-7
Streak: L1
Record: 37-73
Rank: 7th
GB: 29

Today was Old Timers Day and there would be a short game between the "Equitable All Stars" and the "Orioles Old-Timers" before the Orioles took on the Brewers.  I was out at the Stadium this afternoon - I had even bought a good seat in the lower deck for the game.  The "Equitable All Stars" had a strong 1970's Oakland A's theme as they were managed by Alvin Dark and featured Bert Campanaris, Joe Rudi and future Hall Of Famer Rollie Fingers.  The 1970's Pirates and Mets were well represented as well with Dave Cash, Dock Ellis, Richie Hebner and Al Oliver from the former and Wayne Garrett, Jerry Koosman, Jerry Grote and Ron Swoboda from the latter.  Bernie Carbo and Willie Davis were also on the team.  The Orioles Old Timers consisted of Steve Barber, Paul Blair, Don Buford, Al Bumbry, Terry Crowley, Mike Cuellar, Moe Drabowsky, Andy Etchebarren, Dick Hall, Larry Haney, Elrod Hendricks, Bob Johnson, Eddie Watt and Hall Of Famer Brooks Robinson.  Gene Woodling managed the team with current Orioles manager Frank Robinson assisting as a coach.  I do not know if Drabowsky called the opponents bullpen and using an imitation of Dark's voice got a pitcher warming but it had happened before.

The game was supposed to only go three innings but it was tied 1-1 after three so they decided to play one more inning.  Rules were a little lax.  Watt relieved Cuellar on the mound in third for the Birds and then again in the fourth.  The Orioles Old-Timers ended up with a walk off victory when Hendricks connected for a three run home run off of Fingers in the bottom of the fourth.  I'm fairly certain Fingers grooved the ball for Elrod - he met Elrod at third and ran home with him.

Here's the coverage about the festivities from the next day's Evening Sun:

There was still a regular game to be played but this one wasn't as much fun for the home crowd as the Old Timer Game was.  It looked promising early - the Brewers got a run in the top of the first off a Rob Deer RBI single but the Orioles got a two run home run from Cal Ripken in the bottom of the frame to take a 2-1 lead.  But then the top of the second happened.

It was another one of "those" innings that so frequently plagued the team this season.  Greg Brock singled off of Jim Traber's glove at first to start the inning and Charlie O'Brien followed with a ground ball that third baseman Rick Schu made a bad throw on.  Brock moved to second and O'Brien was safe at first.  It looked like the Orioles would get out of it when starter Jeff Ballard got the next two batters (Dale Sveum and Jeff Leonard) to fly out but Cal Ripken misplayed Juan Castillo's ground ball which allowed Brock to score the tying run.  Robin Yount untied it with a double that brought O'Brien and Castillo in to score.  The relay throw from Bill Ripken to Terry Kennedy at the plate attempting to catch Castillo got away from Kennedy which allowed Yount to move to third on the play.  Deer then hit a ground ball to Traber at first that he couldn't get a grip on - Deer ended up with an infield single and Yount scored the fourth run of the inning.  Finally Ballard got Paul Molitor to ground into a force out to end the inning.

The Orioles pretty much were done after that.  They only got two more hits the rest of the game off Brewers pitchers Mike Birkbeck and Odell Jones.  Meanwhile the Brewers scored a couple more runs off the bat of Deer with a solo home run in the fifth and an RBI double in the seventh.

Here's the game story from the next day's Evening Sun:

Saturday August 6 vs the Brewers

Opponent: Milwaukee Brewers
Outcome: W
Score: 7-2
Streak: W1
Record: 37-72
Rank: 7th
GB: 29

The Brewers took an early lead this evening on a two RBI single from BJ Surhoff in the second inning but that was all the runs they would score.  The Orioles tied the game in the third on a two run home run from Brady Anderson, his first career home run and the first of the 209 he would hit as an Oriole*.  The Birds took the lead in the sixth on an RBI double from Jim Traber and extended the lead in the seventh on a three run home run from Eddie Murray, his 20th of the season.  They got one more run in the eighth on a Joe Orsulak RBI double.

*Of those 209 home runs, nearly a quarter of them came when he hit 50 in 1996.  That 50 was more than twice his second highest total - 24 in 1999.  

I spent this evening in Hagerstown, Maryland, home of the Orioles Single A Carolina League affiliate the Suns.  It was only the fourth minor league game I'd ever been to.  Previously I had gone to a San Jose Bees-Fresno Giants double header in 1976 when I lived in Cupertino, California and was 11 years old and I had gone to a Charlotte O's game the previous year in 1987 when I had visited one of my sisters who lived in Charlotte.  Hagerstown was taking on the Lynchburg Red Sox that evening and I had a great time at the game, enjoying the closeness to the game at very inexpensive prices.  I don't remember a lot from the game itself.  I know I spent a while talking to a reporter for a newspaper in Georgia - he wasn't writing a story, he just happened to be in town.  I do remember that I saw Don Buford, Jr - son of former Oriole Don Buford Sr and brother of future Oriole Damon Buford - steal two bases - one on a pick off and the other on a pitch out.  Don Jr. never made the majors.  The Orioles GM Roland Hemond was at the game that night to check out Gregg Olson, Baltimore's number one pick in June's amateur draft.  Olson got the save by pitching a perfect ninth so I do remember that the Suns won the game.  The Orioles would be moving their Carolina League team to Frederick and moving their Double A team to Hagerstown and the Eastern League for the 1989 season.  For me this was ideal as from my apartment in Ellicott City just west of Baltimore I could be in Frederick almost as quickly as I could get to Memorial Stadium.  I started going to a lot of minor league games over the next few years.

Friday August 5 vs the Brewers (2)

Opponent: Milwaukee Brewers
Game 1
Outcome: W
Score: 4-1
Streak: W3
Record: 36-71
Rank: 7th
GB: 29
Game 2
Outcome: L
Score: 1-3
Streak: L1
Record: 36-72
Rank: 7th
GB: 29

As you might expect, baseball did not rate very highly to me today.  The news about my grandfather was devastating and I didn't sleep much overnight.  Unfortunately I wasn't going to be able to take any time off from work.  Today I had to travel down to the DC suburbs for some sort of orientation class for the company I had started working for in June - in addition to the orientation that I did on my first day with them.  I also was going to be leaving on Monday to go to Massachusetts for training for a week and a half - I was going to learn to be a System Administrator on Masscomp computers.  If you've never heard of Masscomp it's because they were acquired by Concurrent computers later in 1988.  Because of this I wasn't going to be able to go to Kansas for my grandfather's funeral, something I regret to this day.

The Orioles were playing a double header tonight against the Brewers.  They were making up the game that had been rained out back on April 7th, almost four months earlier.   The Brewers had Ted Higuera on the mound for the opener - last time the Birds had faced him was their 12-0 Opening Day shellacking.  The outcome was a bit better for the O's tonight.  They took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first on an Eddie Murray sacrifice fly.  The Brewers tied it in the top of the fifth - the Brewers loaded the bases with none out on a single and two errors.  Orioles starter Jose Bautista almost got out of it - he struck out BJ Surhoff and Dale Sveum - but Paul Molitor singled to tie the game up although the runner on second (Rob Deer) was thrown out at the plate to end the inning. 

The Orioles would go ahead for good in the sixth inning when they scored two runs on back-to-back RBI singles from Jim Traber and Ken Gerhart.  A Pete Stanicek home run in the seventh made the score 4-1 which was how it ended.  Baltimore had now won four straight which would end up being their longest winning streak of the season.

That streak ended with the night cap.  Both teams scored a run in the first inning on an RBI double (Greg Brock for the Brewers and Larry Sheets for the Birds) but the Brew Crew followed up with two more in the third on an RBI groundout by Robin Yount and an RBI single by Brock.  The O's on the other hand only got four more hits after the first.

One thing that happened tonight I didn't find out for a few weeks.  My friend Steve drove down from Delaware for the second straight night and made it out to the Stadium in time for Game Two.  He got seats in the lower deck on the first base side.  During the first inning, Eddie Murray hit a screaming liner into the stands.  Everyone in his section ducked except Steve.  He stood up and raised his hands to catch the ball, only to have it pass right through his hands.  It bounced off a nearby fan and rolled away.  The best part of this story is that the cable systems in Delaware were carrying the game so when Steve got to work on Monday, one of his co-workers gave him a hard time about him missing the ball.

Thursday August 4 vs the Indians

Opponent: Cleveland Indians
Outcome: W
Score: 5-0
Streak: W3
Record: 35-71
Rank: 7th
GB: 28

It was "Three Buck Night" so I was of course at this game.  And I wasn't alone.  My brother-in-law was coming into town on business and we had arranged for me to pick him up at BWI Airport and head to the game.  We actually ran into my parents at the airport that afternoon - my 85 year old grandfather in Missouri was going to be undergoing emergency open heart surgery that evening and they were flying out to be with him.  So there was a cloud hanging over us as we made our way out to Memorial Stadium.  We met up with my friend Steve who was there with his former landlady Claire (Steve had rented a room in her house during our senior year in college) and her son Ben (who was ten-ish at the time but somehow unbelievably now is a 40-ish ex-Marine).  I had been hoping that Steve was going to bring this Sabra woman with him that he told me I should meet but it didn't happen.

The Orioles won this evening without getting an earned run.  In fact since the Indians were shut out there were no earned runs at all in this game.  The Birds got their first runs in the third inning.  Eddie Murray led off with a walk and Mickey Tettleton followed with a single.  A passed ball by Indians' catcher Chris Bando with Larry Sheets at the plate moved the runners up although Sheets ultimately struck out.  Murray scored when Ken Gerhart grounded out to shortstop Ron Washington.  The next batter Rick Schu also hit a ground ball to Washington who booted it, allowing Tettleton to move to rhird and Schu to reach first.  Bill Ripken followed with a single to center that scored Tettleton.  Indians center fielder then misplayed the ball for an error that allowed Schu to score and Ripken ended up at third.  Pete Stanicek then grounded out to end the inning.  The Orioles had scored three runs on two hits, two errors, a walk and a passed ball.

They picked up a couple more runs a few innings later.  With two outs Cal Ripken walked and Murray reached on a second error from shortstop Ron Washington.  Tettleton then doubled to bring both runners in and make the score 5-0.  The victory completed the Orioles' first three game series sweep of the season  Their modest three game winning streak was tied for the longest of the season.

My brother-in-law and I must have gotten to the game late because I didn't keep score and I don't have the newspaper clippings from the next day.  I dropped my brother-in-law off at his hotel in downtown Baltimore (which coincidentally was the hotel the Orioles' next opponent - the Milwaukee Brewers - would be staying.  They had a big banner up welcoming them) and headed home.  Shortly after I got home I got a phone call from my father in Missouri letting me know that my grandfather had passed away.  Apparently the surgery had been successful but there were complications from the anesthesia and he never regained consciousness.

Wednesday August 3 vs the Indians

Opponent: Cleveland Indians
Outcome: W
Score: 8-3
Streak: W2
Record: 34-71
Rank: 7th
GB: 28

It was a little rough early for the Birds but the game quickly turned around for them.  The Indians got on the board in the first inning on an odd play.  With one out Julio Franco singled and Joe Carter followed with another single that moved Franco to third.  Ron Kittle then popped out to first baseman Jim Traber in foul ground.  I'm not quite sure what happened but I think Traber attempted to throw out one of the two baserunners but ended up throwing the ball away.  Franco scored and Carter wound up on third base.  Cory Snyder then lined out to end the inning.  The Indians got a two run home run from Ron Tingly in the top of the second to take a 3-0 lead.

But that lead was short lived.  Larry Sheets led off the Orioles' half of the second with a solo home run and Terry Kennedy and Rick Schu followed with singles.  Bill Ripken moved the two base runners up with a sacrifice bunt and Joe Orsulak walked to load the bases.  Brady Anderson then hit a single that scored Kennedy and Schu and tied the game up at 3.  Orsulak moved to third on the hit as well.  Cal Ripken then hit a ground ball to Brook Jacoby at third who somehow didn't get anyone out - Orsulak scored, Anderson went to second and Cal reached first.  It was scored a fielders choice.  The Orioles now lead 4-3, a lead they would not relinquish.

A Kennedy solo home run in the third and an Eddie Murray two run shot in the fourth extended the Birds' lead to 7-3.  They would get an eighth and final run on an RBI single by Bill Ripken in the fifth.

Tuesday August 2 vs the Indians

Opponent: Cleveland Indians
Outcome: W
Score: 5-2
Streak: W1
Record: 33-71
Rank: 7th
GB: 29

It wasn't a particularly pretty victory but the Orioles would take it tonight.  The Indians got on the board first in the top of the third on a Joe Carter RBI single but the Birds would take the lead in the bottom of the inning.  Ken Gerhart led off the inning with a double.  When he tried to steal third with Larry Sheets at the plate, Cleveland catcher Chris Bando threw the ball down the left field line allowing Gerhart to score the tying run.  Sheets then walked and Rick Schu followed with a double.  Brady Anderson then hit an infield single(?) that brought Sheets in with the second run.  The runners stayed put when Bill Ripken popped out to second for the first out but Cal Ripken hit a fly ball deep enough to bring Schu in from third.  Anderson then stole second with Eddie Murray at bat before Murray walked.  Anderson then came in to score the fourth run of the inning on Mickey Tettleton's single before Jim Traber grounded out to end the inning.

The O's got an insurance run in the eighth on a solo home from Larry Sheets.  Cleveland would get one last run in the top of the ninth when Cory Snyder led off with a triple and then scored on Willie Upshaw's sacrifice fly.

Oswaldo Peraza pitched a complete game to get the victory, scattering eight hits and two walks while striking out six.

Monday August 1 - Off Day

The Orioles were off on this day as they prepared for Cleveland to arrive for a three game series.